Second, I just got one of the most expensive haircuts of my life, and even though my co-worker pays $75 for her haircuts that doesn't deaden the sting of the $50 I had to shell out tonight for mine (plus $8 for tip, which is probably too much but I never know how much to tip and I don't want to be a cheapskate even though I'm essentially spending my entire food budget for the week on my haircut). Here are the photos:
I had to have Doug take a couple of photos of me with this new 'do because it may be the first and last time my hair ever looks this expensive. But does it even look that good? I can't really say. I can say that I'm probably a good two inches taller after the blowdry (that I never even want, but for some reason hairdressers can never let you leave with wet hair, even though I leave my house each and every day with a head of wet hair and have no problem with it. This is another reason why my hairdresser can charge so much for a haircut!). Why am I so surprised by the price of this haircut? After all, I got my last haircut from this woman, who works at this slightly fancy-pants salon in Dedham. The only reason why I decided to go here was because the salon was so close to my house, and at the time I was dissatisfied with my other hair salon and wanted to support local business. AND when I called and made my first appointment I was told that, Kristin, the lady who cut my hair, charged $38 for a cut. Perfect! That's what I was paying before (which is probably still too expensive, but to me there's a big difference between $38 and $50). Anyway, my first haircut was good; I was pleased. When I made the appointment this past week for the haircut I was expecting a repeat of nine weeks ago - a nice looking $38 haircut with a $6 tip. Not until I got into Kristin's chair and read the sign that was taped to her mirror did I realize that things would be different tonight. Apparently, Kristin has moved to the next level of haircutting and as of April 8th would be charging $50 for her haircuts. I asked Kristin what that meant - the next level of haircutting. She said that the salon owners every four months review each hairdresser in four categories - how many customers keep returning to her, how many new customers that she saw return to the salon (but not necessarily to her), how many retail products she sells, and one other category. If she attended any continuing ed classes or something like that (they have to attend two on cutting and two on coloring a year). Lucky for me, Kristin scored high on her test this time and has moved to the next level. I may have caused some of my own pain, though, because I returned to her, returned to the salon, and also purchased some conditioner from her last time I was there. Little did I know...
Oh well. Not much I can do about this now. It was just a bit of a shocker to read that sign. The problem is, as much as this haircut doesn't really look like a $50 haircut to me (but really, what does a $50 haircut actually look like?), I like how she cuts my hair, and I like that she's young and a little hip and is at least good enough at what she does to keep passing these little tests at the salon. I'll probably go back to her again next time (in fact, I made an appointment for another nine weeks on my way out), but maybe this next time I'll call ahead to see if she's moved on to the next level. What will she charge at that point? $65?
5 comments:
"Blue steel" face! Love it.
I'm not even sure how much the woman I go to here charges, but I think it's somewhere in the $40-$45 range. And that's in freaking Portland. I've tried SuperCuts and similar places in the past, but in this case you really DO get what you pay for. It's just plain expensive to be a girl. That's partly why I spread out my haircuts as far apart as possible, I guess.
By the way, your hair looks great!
Looks great! Very sleek.
If, however, you want to break up the expensive haircuts with cheaper ones, I like Mario's in Davis Square. I usually pay $35 for a shampoo, cut, and blow dry, plus about $7 for a tip. And they're very good.
But with the great cut you got, I'd also say that was $50 well spent! :)
Tank you, ladies! However, it looks good in the photos because my hair lady knows how to blow dry it. Today it's not looking so great. There are layers, and layers that don't get blown dry tend to stick out and look chunky, at least on me. The blow dryer intimidates me, not to mention sucks unnecessary time away from my morning, so I tend to stay away from it. Let's hope I don't have to succumb to using one!
Tank you, yes, but also thank you. I hate typos that are actually words... spell check should know better!
Whoa, I won't say how much I spend on my hair. But it's more than $50. Though I do also get it colored. But anyway, I think the cut looks great! You're worth it!!! And I firmly believe that you should like and feel comfortable with your hairdresser. It makes the whole experience so much more pleasant.
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